2025 Rail Tech Seminars
Presented by TransloadX
Grand Ballroom Seminar Room, 3rd Floor, DCU Center
12:45-1:30pm
Conference Kick-Off Presentation
Battery/Electric Technology and How it is Changing the Industry
Battery technology is rapidly changing how we live and work. Advancements in battery size, power, and life have allowed the technology to be applied to everything from hand tools, to lawnmowers, to trucks. The rail industry is no exception. Starting with experimental designs a decade ago, battery locomotives and passenger multiple units have slowly but steadily been advancing in reliability.
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Board of Directors has approved a $54 million initiative to introduce battery-electric trains on the Fairmount Commuter Rail Line. This plan, put forward by Keolis Commuter Services, aims to increase service frequency and reduce emissions in the communities served by the line. Keolis submitted their proposal in December 2023, outlining a vision for integrating battery-electric multiple unit trains (BEMUs) into the Fairmount Line operations. The new trains are expected to provide quieter, faster, and more reliable service while significantly lowering air pollution levels. The first battery-electric train is anticipated to enter service in early 2028.
This project is part of a broader effort to decarbonize the rail network, contributing to the state’s clean energy and climate goals. The introduction of BEMU trains is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 17,700 tons annually compared to the current diesel-powered trains.
Keolis will manage the new fleet and infrastructure as a Project Delivery Partner (PDP), overseeing both the preparation and delivery phases of the project. Representatives of Keolis will be joining discuss this exciting new technology and what we can expect to see coming down the rails in the near future.
1:45-2:30pm
Seminar #1
Where Maintenance of Way Meets AI
Mass Coastal Railroad has embraced a new approach to tracking the status of its system’s maintenance of way needs and projects providing for safer and more reliable operations. Working with partner and supplier Esri, the railroad is leveraging cloud-based geographic information systems (GIS) to allow employees to easily input, view, and prioritize MOW issues that needs to be addressed on its lines throughout eastern Massachusetts. Geomapping pinpoints the exact location of each issue. Data can be easily leveraged for analysis, providing detailed analytics that increase safety.
The flexibility and adaptability of the technology can offer a host of benefits to both freight and passenger railroads, especially our region’s short lines and regionals who may not have the resources to employ the same technology used by the Class 1’s. Calvin Corrigan from MassCoastal and Eric Henderson from Esri will join us to offer an overview of the system and how it performs in daily operations.
2:45-3:30pm
Seminar #2
Industrial Rail Access Program (IRAP) Funding – How to Navigate the Application Process
Each year, Maine and Massachusetts award funding for rail improvements through their Industrial Rail Access Programs (IRAP). The programs are overseen by the Department of Transportation in both states. IRAP is a public/private partnership that combines funding to help eligible applicants invest in industry-based freight rail infrastructure improvement projects located on, within or adjacent to the general railroad system. The goals of the programs are to stimulate economic development, grow corporations, keep manufacturing jobs and create new jobs through increased efficiency, production capacity, and improved distribution logistics, and enhance intermodal transportation. State investment is matched with a percentage of local and/or private industry funds. Typically, two to three million dollars has been set aside for the programs in each state.
2025 recipients included transload projects in Framingham, MA, and Ware, MA, and expansion of a company’s rail infrastructure in Haverhill, MA.
IRAP is a competitive program with applications scored based on state-specific criteria. An example of these include: job creation/retention, anticipated decrease in air emissions and highway congestion,, transportation and logistics cost savings, improvements in rail service, and benefit-cost ratio.
John Weston, Rail Program Specialist at MassDOT, and Nathan Howard, Director, Rail Transportation at MaineDOT, Office of Freight & Passenger Services, join us to offer an overview of each state’s program and provide insight on how railroads can navigate the application process
3:45-4:45pm
Seminar #3
State DOT Roundtable
New England’s six states have been working to build and better integrate their transportation networks, providing capacity that can answer the challenges of an increasing population, all while staying within tightening budgets. This includes expanding rail capacity: bringing regional and commuter passenger rail back to locations that haven’t seen service in decades while encouraging the growth intermodal freight and “last mile” trucking to help ease highway congestion. These types of environmentally responsible ways of connecting people and locations will be key to managing future economic and social growth.
Interstate partnerships and public-private partnerships are essential in this endeavor. The State DOT Roundtable will bring together representatives to discuss the future of rail in New England and touch on some of the local and regional initiatives currently underway.
Moderator:
Ryan Coholan, Chief Operating Officer
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Confirmed Panelists:
Andrew Koziol, Director of East-West Rail Project
Massachusetts Department of Transportation, Rail & Transit Division
Pamela Cotter, Administrator of Planning
Rhode Island Department of Transportation
Rich Jankovich, Rail Administrator
Connecticut Department of Transportation
Office of Rail
Panelists from Vermont Agency of Transportation, New Hampshire Department of Transportation, Maine Department of Transportation, and have been invited to participate and will be added as they RSVP.